Bipod



1. s'. BUTLEEAND s. G. GREEN.

BIPOD.

APPLlcATloN' FILED 1AN.17,1919.

Patented Apr. 19, 1921.

y To all lwhom t 'may concer/n.'

- UIN-irse.

PATENT OFFICE.

' JOHN "s. BUTLER AND SAMUEL e. GREEN,.0E THE UNITED sTATEs ARMY.

BIPOD.

Specification of'Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 1g, 1921. -Application1`ed.J'anuary 17, 1919. Serial No, 271,728. i

(FILED UNDER THE .ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STIAT. L., 625.)

Be it known that we, JOHN S. BUT- LER captain, Ordnance Department,United States Army, and SAMUEL G. GREEN, lieutenant, lOrdnanceDepartment, United States Army, citizens of the United States, stationedat Washington, lDistrict of Columbia, have inventedan Improvement `inBipods, of which the following is a specificatiom The inventiondescribed herein may be used by the Government, or any of its oilicersor employees in prosecution of work for the Goverment, or by any otherperson in the United-States, without payment of any royalty thereon.

Our invention relates to supports for guns, and more particularly to a;support for a Browning heavy machine gun, and has special reference tothe type of gun supports known as bipods (as distinguished fromtripods.)

lThe object of the. invention is to provide a bipod which may beconveniently use d while the operator is in a recumbent pos1 tion, 'aswhen he is lying on the ground;

which is simple in organization; which is relatively light in weight,yet strong and durable in use;` and which embodies novel meanspermitting traverse and including' 'means limiting the traverse and,also,- preventing accidental disengagement of the os cillatory turret.

Subordinate objects relating to matters of specific structural'improvement lgoing Eto .make upthe ultimate perfection of the en-v tiredevice will appear as the-specification proceeds, and the nature of theinvention more fully appears.

The accompanying drawings disclose an exemplaryv embodiment of theunderlying principles of the invention, like reference charactersindicating corresponding parts throughout the several views, which-Vlatter may be brieiiy described .as follows v Figure 1 is a view insidev elevation of our bipod; v y Fig. 2 isa view in rear end elevation,partly in section, thereof;

1Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the bipod with the turret .removedthrough this tongue.

Fig. 4 is a detached detail plan view of,

the pivoting disk of the turret; and

, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional legs 1, 1 and may beconveniently positionedbetween the lower ends thereof as shown. The'bent terminals of the brac 4 are riveted or otherwise suitably secur dto the legs Spikes 5, 5 are carried. bythe legs 1, 1 and may besecuredvagainst the bent terminals of the'brace 4, as by riveting.

If desired, angle irons 6, 6 mfay be secured to the top of said spikes5, 5, as by" riveting. The lower bent terminals of the angle irons aresubstantially in the plane of the leg-terj minals 3, 3 and constituteauxiliary means for bearing against thev ground when the bipod is inuse.

Riveted, or otherwise suitably secured to the bridge 2, are angle plates7, 7. I t

A disk 8 is riveted to said angle plates, and is provided with segmentalmarginal inturned lip 10 at its top. Said segmental flanges l9, 9 are`symmetrically arrangedso that corresponding ends thereof are equallyspaced, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. The disk is also provided with acentral boss 11v through which and through the bridge 2 may pass afastening member 12 carrying a 'nut 13.

Between the disk 8 and thejbridge2 is disposed a resilient tongue 14;and, desirably, the fastening membery 12 projects The tongue carries apin 15 projecting through a peripheral notch 16 in the disk 8intermediate twoadjacent ends of the flanges 9, 9. p

The",` oscillatory turret comprises, in this flanges 9, 9, each of whichhas a coextensive -secure b instance, a channel plate 17 and a cradle18. The cradle is preferably a bow shaped plate provided, at its forwardend, with a tongue 19, which is bent under and secured to the plate thusforming a loop 20. The cradle is provided, at its sides, with arms 21,21 bent downward and under the cradle and secured thereto.

support is provided for the machine gun, to take up jar and vibrationiand prevent them being transmitted to the legs 1, 1.

Carried on the .under surface of the channel plate 17 is a pivotingmember, comprising, in this instance, superposed disks 22, 23, each ofwhich is provided with a registeringv central aperture 24, through whichthe boss 11 projects (as shown in Fig. 5). The disks 22, 23 may besecured to the member 17 by rivets 25. The disk 23 is provided withdiametrically opposite tongues 26, 26. By'disposing themember 17 so thatthe tongues 26, 26 are between the correspondremoval of the turret fromits support, as is evident, since, by its position, it prevents thetongues 26, 26 passing entirely from beneath the lips 10, 10.

In compliance with the patent statutes, we have described, with greatparticularity, a specific embodiment of ouninvention; but the spirit ofthe invention is necessarily independent of l.the structural details,which may bechanged, as desired. Therefore, all modifications as comewithin the scope of the appended claims are within the range of ourinvention. l y

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to Letters Patent is 1. A ipod including a removable turretmounted for traverse, and a resilientlysupported member in the path ofmovement of said turret for limiting traverse and: preventing accidentalremoval of the turret. 2. A bipod comprising a turret, supportlng meanstherefor having flanges providing overhanging turretretaining lips, andmeans normally preventing removal of said turret from said lips andlimiting the traverse of the turret.

3. A bipod comprising a turret, supporting means therefor havinglongitudinallyarcuate flanges providing longitudinally-arc uate`overhanging turret-retaining lips, andv means normally preventingremoval of said turret from said lips and limiting the traverse of theturret.

By this construction of. cradle,. a somewhat yielding or springing'l 4.A bipod comprising a turret, supporting means therefor having flangesproviding overhanging turret-retaining lips, and a member normally inthe path of movement of said turret for preventing removal there' 'offrom said retaining lips and limiting the traverse of the turret.

5. A bipod comprising a turret, supporting means therefor having flangesproviding overhanging turret-retaining lips, and a resiliently-supportedmember normally in the path of movement of said turret for preventingremoval thereof from said retaining -lips and limiting the traverseofthe turret.

6. A bipod comprising a turret, supporting means therefor having flangesproviding overhanging turret-retaining lips, and means normallypreventing removal of said turret from said retaining lips,'comprising aresilient tongue carrying a projection normally in the path of movementof said turret.`

7. "A bipod comprising a'movable turret, and `stationary supportingmeans therefor having flanges providing overhanging lips, said turretcarrying means movable' beneath said lips to hold the turret againstaccidental removal, and movable from beneath said lips to permit removalof said turret.

8. A bipod comprising a movable turret, and a stationary disk upon whichsaid turret moves and having segmental flanges providing overhanginglips, said turret carrying tongues movable beneath said lips to hold theturret against accidental removal, and movable from beneath said lips topermit'removal of said turret.

9. A bipod comprising a movable turret, and a stationary disk upon whichsaid turret moves and having segmental flanges providing overhanginglips, said turret carrying tongues movable beneath said lips to hold theturret against-accidental removal, and movable from beneath said lipsAto permit removal -of said turret, and a movable `member in the path ofmovement of said l providing overhanging lips, said turret carryingtongues movable beneath said lips to hold the turret against accidentalremoval, and movable from beneath said lips to per- -mit removal of saidturret, and a movable member disposed between two ad'acent ends of saidflanges and in the path o movement of said tongues for limiting traverseof said g turret.

11. A bipod comprising a. rotatable turret and 'a stationary disk uponwhich said turret revolves and having segmental flanges providingoverhanging lips, said turret carrying tongues movable beneath said lipsto hold the turret against removal, and movable from beneath said lipsto permit removal of said turret, and a Vresiliently-supported member inthe path of movement of said tongues for limiting traverse of theturret.

12. vA bipod comprising a rotatable turret 5 and a stationary disk uponwhich said turret lrevolves and having segmental anges providingoverhanging lips, said turret carrying tongues movable' beneath saidlips, to hold the turret against removal, and mov- 10 able from 'beneathsaid lips to permit removal of said turret, and a memberlimit-l ingtraverse of the turret and preventing accidental removal thereof.

13. A bipod comprising a turret mounted for traverse, said turretincluding a sheet metal cradle provided with a tongue at its forward endbent under and secured to the4 cradle, forming a loo JO N S. BUTLER.

SAMUEL G. GREEN.

